Monday, May 16, 2016

Free speech tensions

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called his Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon to order on Monday at a time of tensions over the right of military officers to speak their minds.

Yaalon on Sunday delivered a speech to senior officers in which he implored them to "continue speaking your minds".

"Do so even if your remarks aren't part of the mainstream, and even if they are at odds with ideas and stances held by the senior command or political echelon," Yaalon said.

His remarks were perceived as a public show of support for Major General Yair Golan, deputy head of the armed forces, who on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day this month made remarks comparing contemporary Israeli society to Nazi Germany.

Yaalon had stood up for Golan, stressing that military commanders should not only "lead soldiers into battle" but also teach them "values, with a compass and conscience"